this is The Machine

it sits on a small, low table in the physiotherapy department. four small yellow wet sponges sit between the soles of the feet and four paddles connected by long cream cables leading back to The Machine. small electrical currents then travel from The Machine through the sponges and into the feet. this does not hurt, but depending on the intensity of the current dialed up, the feeling can be anything from a very slight pins and needles to a sharp, pinging, pulsing effect. it stimulates the muscles that haven't been used for a long time.

I get attached to The Machine whenever I have a session in the physio department and experience a moderate pins and needles effect in my feet.

one morning one of the staff told me about the time when a little woman in her late seventies from a remote corner of the country was staying in the Unit. over the period of two weeks, she monopolised The Machine.

she would make sure she was the first patient into the physio department each morning, and wouldn't let anyone else near The Machine until she'd had her turn. puzzled by this, one of the staff decided to ask her if she liked the effects of The Machine, and found it of any benefit.

"Oh yes," came the reply, "I haven't had an orgasm like that for years."